Is This The End of Biker 313???

17 January - The stiffness of my wrist has been bothering me for some time; I had the CT scan a few weeks ago and nobody from the hospital had bothered to get back to me so this morning I was determined to get hold of someone who could give me the full picture. After negotiating several layers of the St Pauls bureaucracy I finally got through to someone from the out patient area and after much wailing and gnashing of teeth (we're always busy and today is St Patricks day!!! 'So what, you're a hospital' was my reply') I managed to see someone that morning. Perhaps I shouldn't have. The wait wasn’t too long but the review they gave me almost made me throw up. The scaphoid was definitely fractured and wasn’t going to heal on its own and if I don’t want to have arthritis later in life I have to get it reset. I was furious that this wasn’t told to me earlier - on the day that it happened they suspected a fracture (and this doctor told me if it was him he would have suggested surgery straight away) and they told me to do nothing. Now, two months later, it's not healed and i'm being told I have to have an operation under local where they will install a pin and i'll be out of action for four to six weeks. Basically, my career as a bike courier in Vancouver is effectively over. I’d made tentative plans to take a bit of a journey at the end of April and I won’t be able to work after the operation . I should be covered by WCB, although the fact that I worked for a few months after my initial time off could cause problems. The injury also cuts me out of a courier race coming up in April and an offroad run-mtb session I was planning to do with mark at the end of next month and skiing season I also effectively over as well. F**!!!!!! I'm not too much of a man too deny that there were tears streaming down my face when I left the hospital. Despite its frustrations this has been one of the most enjoyable jobs i've ever had and I won’t be able to do it anymore in this city. On top of this, the day, despite being sunny and clear was completelydead (only29 trips and a pitiful earning - the general conclusion for the lack of business was suspected to be St patricks day and the start of spring break for the kiddies) and I managed to wipe out (again!!!) slipping on a steep road that was covered in wet sand which resulted in no further injury other than a few scratches on my legs but my new biking shorts were completely shredded (however my legs have got almost identical gashes and bruises on either side now - maybe i'm just not cut out to be a courier). Went to the art gallery and then Pub 340 (the new courier hangout) to get drunk after work and I met a couple of new couriers, which was great. It never ceases to amaze me how even the surliest of couriers are always so friendly and open when I met them in a social atmosphere.
Upon returning home I made another incredibly annoying fumble with my PDA which resulted in its falling on the kitchen floor, crackingthe screen. Not much seemed to go right on this day.
When I got home I had a little bit of a chat with our hapless new biker, Thane and it turns out that he was let go today. It's not all bad as he had a chat with his doctor who said that the work was really not suited for him at this stage in his life and he's gone full time to his mechanic gig but I was absolutely furious to hear that after the conversation I had with Lee on Thursday morning when we told him that it was cool for him to go home early because of his illness. It's a pretty ruthless business at the best of times and while i've got no issues with someone being let go because they can’t handle the job assuring someone that everything is okay and then flipping 180 degrees the very next day with no warning is just wrong. I have to say i've got very little sympathy with the plight they constantly find themselves in when it comes to retaining bikers. A lot of other couriers who have worked for Novex in the past have criticised the way they treat their workers - one anecdote that Shadow related to me was that Novex fired him four days of his daughter was born because he was taking too much time off (i'm sure there's a bit more to the story than that but Novex certainly hasn’t left a warm fuzzy feeling in the hearts of its ex-employees).
Tentative plans to go do a dance party in East Van were cancelled and I had a late night coffee with Pul-ha-Neeks followed by a screening of Swingers (which I have seen far too many times now to enjoy) and a very late night sesh of Mortal Kombat and weed on Ashu's Xbox., which is always a good combination although 4am is always pushing my boundaries.